Spring-Biased Strut For A Cargo Box

ABSTRACT

A dual sided opening roof mount cargo box for a carrying vehicle includes a lid portion releasably hinge-connected at two lateral sides to a bottom portion of the cargo box for alternate pivotation at each of the two lateral sides between open and closed configurations. A spring-biased strut is operatively interposed between the lid portion and the bottom portion of the cargo box and located at an end region of the cargo box. The spring-biased strut includes two arms operatively interconnected for pivotation relative to one another and a biasing spring operatively interposed therebetween. The spring-biased strut is configured to control an assisting force to have a substantially zero magnitude when the lid portion is in the closed configuration.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/815,322, filed Jul. 31, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/508,738, filed Oct. 7, 2014 (now U.S. Pat. No.9,120,428), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/192,221, filed Feb. 27, 2014 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,875,962), which isa continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/323,584, filed Dec. 12,2011 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,672,198), which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 10/711,912, filed Oct. 12, 2004 (now U.S. Pat. No.8,096,455), which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/481,491 filed Oct. 9, 2003, each of which is fully incorporated byreference herein.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

An arrangement of the nature of the present disclosure is found in U.S.Pat. No. 5,546,705, which is hereby expressly incorporated herein byreference for purposes of disclosure as part of the present writtendescription.

Vehicular mountable cargo containers, of the variety commonly referredto as cargo boxes, are well known. As in the instant depicted in U.S.Pat. No. 5,546,705, one type of such a carrier is roof mounted, andamong those, there is a particular type that the present applicantrefers to as being a Dual Sided Opening cargo box.

As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,705, a dual-force strut (or struts)can be used between the two halves of the container that provide anopening spring force when in a range of motion approaching the openconfiguration and an opposite direction closing spring force when in arange of motion approaching the closed configuration. A distincttransition regarding the direction of the force (from urged extension tourged retraction) occurs therebetween. In the instance of the strut'sclosing force, that, together with the weight of the top can, instead ofassisting the operator, cause the top to undesirably slam shut.

In another aspect, when two struts are used, one at each end of thecargo box as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,705, the relatively strongforces imposed by the struts can result in the two ends of the box bothopening and closing in an imbalanced manner (one gets ahead of the otherin the direction that is being urged by the operator, or the two strutsapply different direction urgings with respect to each other at the sametime; that is, one strut is urging closure while the other strut isurging opening. This detrimentally results in a twisting or torquing ofthe usually semi-flexible box-top which presents as misbehavior ormal-performance of the product to the operator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In at least one exemplary embodiment, the present invention takes theform of a method for providing and controlling operation of a dual sidedopening roof mount cargo box that is designed to be installed upon acarrying vehicle such as an automobile. It should be appreciated,however, that the cargo box does not necessarily have to be actuallyinstalled upon a vehicle to constitute an example of this embodiment ofthe invention. The method includes providing a dual sided opening roofmount cargo box having a lid portion releasably hinge-connected at twolateral sides to a bottom portion of the cargo box. With two releasablehinge connections, one on each long-side of the box, by keeping one sidehinge-connected and the opposite side's hinge released, the box can beopened at the released side by pivoting the lid portion about the stillfastened, opposite hinge connection. This arrangement is known as beingdual sided opening in the cargo box carrier technologies (for example,see U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,705 referred to hereinabove), and with respectto the present invention, is recited as being for accommodatingalternate pivotation at each of the two lateral sides between open andclosed configurations of the cargo box.

In keeping therewith, the bottom portion is adapted to be mounted to thecarrying vehicle. Such adaptation can take any of a number of forms andincludes tightenable assemblies that inter-connect the box to crossbarmembers of vehicular carried rack systems. The lid portion isexemplarily manufactured from a semi-flexible material sufficientlypliable to permit two opposite end regions thereof to be at differentrelative distances from the bottom portion of the cargo box duringtransition between the open and closed configurations. With respect tothe background description provided hereinabove, this characteristic canbe likened to a twisting or torquing of the lid which users typicallywish to avoid, but because of the large size of the lid, and the usualneed to construct the same from relatively inexpensive and thin plastic,the construction of the lid itself usually cannot be, or at least willnot be, sufficiently fortified to prevent such twist.

For these reasons, this present embodiment of the invention employsuniquely configured and operable support(s) interposed between the lidand bottom portions of the box. This support is established by providinga pair of spring-biased struts, each operatively interposed between thelid portion and the bottom portion of the cargo box. One each of thepair of spring-biased struts is located at the two opposite end regionsof the cargo box.

When an operator opens the box, the support arrangement imposes anexpansively directed force on the lid portion, utilizing the pair ofspring-biased struts, across a substantial entirety of travel of the lidportion during operator induced movement from the closed configurationto the open configuration of the box, and thereby assisting the operatorto smoothly open the cargo box.

In a further development of this exemplary embodiment of the invention,the expansively directed force is controlled, through configuration ofthe pair of spring-biased struts, to have a magnitude that substantiallybalances a weight of the lid portion across a range of motion, T, of thelid portion when operating in proximity of the closed configuration.That is to say, as the lid portion is either departing the bottomportion moving toward the open configuration, or is approaching thebottom portion moving toward the closed configuration, the supports areconfigured so that the force imposed between the lid and bottom portionsof the box in the range of motion occurring when the two box halves areproximate one another is substantially equal to the force stemming fromthe weight of the lid which tends to move the lid to the fully closedposition unless opposed; e.g. the struts.

In a complimentary, but different embodiment, the present inventiontakes the form of a spring-biased strut for a vehicular mountable cargocontainer or box having a top portion hinge-connected for pivotationrelative to a bottom portion of the cargo container. The strut includestwo arms operatively connected for pivotation relative to one anotherthrough a delimited range of motion. In the illustrated embodiment, suchdelimitation is affected using stops that impede further progressivemotion of one of the arms relative to the other.

A biasing spring is operatively interposed between the two arms, and thebiasing spring is configured to be operationally influential on the twoarms during transitions between first and second strut orientations thatcorrespond to open and closed configurations of an incorporatingvehicular mountable cargo container.

The two arms are adapted so that one each is connectable to the top andbottom portions of the vehicular mountable cargo container therebyenabling the strut to deliver an assisting force for urging the cargocontainer into the open configuration. The two arms are configuredrelative to one another, and relative to the biasing spring so thatacross a substantial entirety of the delimited range of relative motionbetween the two arms, and which corresponds to a substantial entirety ofrelative motion between the top and bottom portions of the cargocontainer when transitioning between the open and closed configurations,the assisting force imparted to the cargo container acts in onerotational direction urging the vehicular mountable cargo containertoward the open configuration.

In still a further complementary embodiment, the invention takes theform of a vehicular mountable cargo container having a top portionhinge-connected for pivotation relative to a bottom portion of the cargocontainer between open and closed configurations. A pair ofspring-biased struts are included, each operatively interposed betweenthe top and bottom portions of the vehicular mountable cargo container,and one each of the pair of spring-biased struts located at opposed endregions of the cargo container. Each of the pair of spring-biased strutsis configured to exclusively deliver an assisting expansion forcebetween the top and bottom portions of the cargo container for urgingthe container toward the open configuration. That is to say, the strutsdo not impose or exert a force between the top and bottom portionstending to close the cargo box.

In at least one development of this embodiment of the invention, theforce being purely directed in an opening direction stems from the factthat each of the pair of spring-biased struts is configured to avoid orprevent the delivery or imposition of a closing-assist force between thetop and bottom portions of the cargo container that would urge thecontainer toward the closed configuration. In a further aspect of thisembodiment of the invention, each of the pair of spring-biased struts isconfigured to perform in substantial unison, one with the other, therebyurging maintenance of a parallel orientation of the top portion,relative to the bottom portion of the cargo container when transitionedby an operator between the open and closed configurations.

By way of example, this tendency to urge maintenance of the lid portionin an even or horizontal orientation during transition between the openand closed configurations of the box is fostered by the fact that themagnitude of the opening force imparted by the struts is substantiallyequal to the weight of the lid that is borne thereby, as well of thefact that the strut does not transition between forces that tend to urgethe box halves apart toward the open configuration and forces that tendto urge the box halves together toward the closed configuration asexemplified in the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,705. As intimatedabove, if the two distantly spaced apart struts located at opposite endsof the cargo box were to be permitted to assume configurations in whichoppositely directed forces are imposed between the box halves at the twoends of the box, the undesirable torquing or twisting of the lid thathas been described relative to known box configurations would likelyoccur; and it is the avoidance of such misbehavior or mal-performance ofthe box that the present invention is purposed.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a carrying vehicle with a duel sidedopening roof mount cargo box installed thereupon, showing one supportstrut and phantom at a front end thereof;

FIG. 2 is a perspective end view of a closed cargo box showing anexemplary support strut in phantom;

FIG. 3 is a perspective end view of a cargo box open on the right sideand substantially revealing an exemplary support strut, as well as anillustration of the cargo box open on the left side, depicted in dashedlines;

FIG. 4 is a perspective end view of a closed cargo box showing anexemplary support strut in phantom in both open and closeconfigurations, together with an open configuration of the box shown inphantom, the open (O) and closed (C) configurations of the box areindicated, as well as a transitional (T) range of travel, together withan upward (U) range of travel;

FIG. 5 is a schematic side elevational view of a support strut in afirst orientation corresponding to an open configuration of the cargobox;

FIG. 6 is a schematic side elevational view of a support strut in atransitional orientation corresponding to a position between the openand closed configuration of the cargo box;

FIG. 7 is a schematic side elevational view of a support strut in asecond orientation corresponding to a closed configuration of the cargobox; and

FIG. 8 is a detailed schematic side elevational view of the cooperatingportions and elements between the two arms of the support strutsubstantially as depicted in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Preferred embodiment(s) of the disclosed invention(s) are illustratedand described in the accompanying drawings. Referring to FIG. 1, aperspective view of vehicular mounted cargo container is illustrateddemonstrating in phantom, exemplary placement of one of two strutsconfigured according to the teachings of the present invention(s). InFIG. 2, an end perspective view of the vehicular mounted cargo containerof FIG. 1 is shown in a closed configuration. An end perspective view ofthe vehicular mounted cargo container of FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown in FIG.3 illustrating the dual sided opening feature wherein the right side isopen and the top of the container is shown solidly, while the left sideis shown in an open configuration with the top of the container depictedin phantom.

FIG. 4 depicts the vehicular mounted cargo container of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3hinged at the left side and showing a closed configuration with solidlines and an open configuration shown in phantom. Therein, the openconfiguration of the container is designated with the letter O and theclosed configuration is designated with the letter C. A range of motionover which an upward urging force is imposed by the strut(s) on thecontainer top is designated with the letter U and a range of motion overwhich a transitional urging force is imposed by the struts on thecontainer top is designated with the letter T. In the “T” range ofpossible configurations of the container, a force of substantiallyconstant magnitude is preferably exerted by the strut(s) on thecontainer, and the magnitude is preferably insufficient to independentlymove the container top. In a particularly preferred embodiment, anexpansion force is imposed on the container by the strut(s) that issufficient to assist an operator in opening the top, but not so great asto significantly oppose closing by the operator. FIG. 5 illustrates afirst strut orientation corresponding to an open configuration of thecontainer. FIG. 6 illustrates an intermediate strut orientationcorresponding to a transitional configuration of the container. FIG. 7illustrates a second strut orientation corresponding to a closedconfiguration of the container. FIG. 8 is a detailed view of thecooperative region between the arms (60, 70). A supporting cam surfaceis defined between the O and C delimiters described hereinabove.

Referring to the invention more generally, FIG. 1 depicts a vehicularmountable cargo container (10) comprising a top portion (30) of thevehicular mountable cargo container (10) hinge-connected for pivotationrelative to a bottom portion (32) of the cargo container between open(O) and closed (C) configurations. A pair of spring-biased struts (50)are also provided, each operatively interposed between the top (30) andbottom portions (32) of the vehicular mountable cargo container. Oneeach of the pair of spring-biased struts (50) is located at opposed endregions of the cargo container. Each of the pair of spring-biased struts(50) is configured to exclusively deliver an assisting expansion forcebetween the top (30) and bottom portions (32) of the cargo container(10) for urging the container toward the open (O) configuration.

Each of the pair of spring-biased struts (50) is configured to at leastavoid, and preferably to deliver a closing-assist force between the top(30) and bottom (32) portions of the cargo container (10) that urges thecontainer toward the closed (C) configuration.

Still further, each of the pair of spring-biased struts (50) isconfigured to perform in substantial unison, one with the other, therebyurging maintenance of a parallel orientation of the top portion (30),relative to the bottom portion (32) of the cargo container (10) whentransitioned by an operator between the open (O) and closed (C)configurations. Complementarily, the substantially unified movement ofthe top portion or lid (3) substantially prevents the inducement oftorque or twist in the top portion (30) relative to the bottom portion(32) of the cargo container (10) when transitioned by an operatorbetween the open (O) and closed (C) configurations.

A cam surface is provided at one of the two arms and establishes asurficial interaction between the two arms during transitions betweenthe first and second strut orientations. A force communication point(CP) is defined by a point of support of the non-cam surface includingarm on the cam-including arm at the cam surface, and which moves acrossthe cam surface as the two arms pivot relative to one another betweenthe first and second strut orientations. During such full range ofmotion, however, the force communication point (CP) remains exclusivelyon one side of a line oriented parallel to a direction of theoperationally effective force imposed by the biasing spring between thetwo arms and intersecting a pivot connection between the two arms. In apreferred embodiment, this line is also oriented substantially parallelto a longitudinal axis (VL) of the non-cam-including arm. 24. In arelated aspect, the non-cam-including arm comprises an arm body housinga spring biased slider therein, the slider being configured for relativereciprocation within the arm body and the slider presenting a receptionsurface for establishing a sliding point of contact with the cam surfaceof the cam-including arm; the sliding point of contact coinciding withthe force communication point (CP).

In another embodiment, the invention takes the form of a strut thatincludes two arms (60, 70) operatively connected for pivotation relativeto one another through a delimited range of motion. A biasing spring(80) is operatively interposed between the two arms, and with thebiasing spring being configured to be operationally influential on thetwo arms during transitions between first and second strut orientationsthat correspond to open and closed configurations of an incorporatingvehicular mountable cargo container. The two arms are one eachconnectable to the top and bottom portions of the vehicular mountablecargo container thereby enabling the strut to deliver an assisting forcefor urging the cargo container into the open configuration. Pivotconnections (93, 96) serve to connect the strut (50) to the top (30) andbottom (32) halves of the container. The two arms are configuredrelative to one another and the biasing spring so that across asubstantial entirety of the delimited range of relative motion betweenthe two arms, and which corresponds to a substantial entirety ofrelative motion between the top and bottom portions of the cargocontainer when transitioning between the open and closed configurations,the assisting force imparted to the cargo container acts in onerotational direction urging the vehicular mountable cargo containertoward the open configuration.

Delimiters (46, 47) are provided and configured to limit the range ofrelative motion between the two arms so that throughout the entire rangeof transitional motion of the strut between the first and second strutorientations, the operationally effective force imposed by the biasingspring between the two arms exclusively urges either one of clockwise orcounter clockwise pivotation of the cam surface including arm relativeto the non-cam surface including arm. In this regard, the arms (60, 70)are pivotally connected at the connection (90), and counter clock-wisemotion of the arm (60) relative to the arm (70) is delimited by stop(46), while clock-wise motion of the arm (60) relative to the arm (70)is delimited by stop (47). The cam surface and the biasing spring,together with a pivot connection between the two arms establish acapability for an over-center strut orientation at which the directionof the operationally effective force imposed by the biasing springbetween the two arms would change between exclusively urging the one ofclockwise and counter clockwise pivotation of the cam surface includingarm relative to the non-cam surface including arm, but for thedelimiters.

Referring to FIGS. 5-8, in the illustrated embodiment the non-camsurface including arm houses a spring-biased (see spring 80), rising andfalling slide, carrier or platform (40) that is depicted as beingoperatively interposed between the two arms (60, 70). A ridge (42) onthe arm 70 within an interior space (74) thereof, and a groove (44) onthe translating platform (40) exemplarily cooperate as guides forreciprocating motion of the platform within the non-cam surfaceincluding arm.

In at least one embodiment, the operationally effective force imposed bythe biasing spring between the two arms is constituted as a summation ofa plurality of vector forces imposed by the biasing spring between thetwo arms.

The invention may be alternatively characterized as a method forproviding and controlling operation of a dual sided opening roof mountcargo box (10) for a carrying vehicle. The method includes providing adual sided opening roof mount cargo box (10) having a lid portion (30)releasably hinge-connected at two lateral sides to a bottom portion (32)of the cargo box (10) for alternate pivotation at each of the twolateral sides between open and closed configurations. The bottom portion(32) is adapted to be mounted to a carrying vehicle and the lid portion(30) is manufactured from a semi-flexible material sufficiently pliableto permit two opposite end regions thereof to be at different relativedistances from the bottom portion (32) of the cargo box (1) duringtransition between the open and closed configurations. A pair ofspring-biased struts (50) is provided, each operatively interposedbetween the lid portion (30) and the bottom portion (32) of the cargobox (10), and one each of the pair of spring-biased struts (50) beinglocated at the two opposite end regions of the cargo box. An expansivelydirected force is exerted on the lid portion (30), utilizing the pair ofspring-biased struts (50), across a substantial entirety of travel ofthe lid portion (30) during operator induced movement from the closedconfiguration to the open configuration and thereby assisting theoperator to smoothly open the cargo box (10).

The expansively directed force is controlled through configuration ofthe pair of spring-biased struts (50) to have a magnitude thatsubstantially balances a weight of the lid portion (30) across a rangeof motion (T) of the lid portion (30) when operating in proximity of theclosed configuration. This facilitates an operator's even lifting of thelid portion (30) across the range of motion (T) thereby avoidingstrut-induced twist in the lid portion (30). Still further, theexpansively directed force is controlled to have a magnitude thatincreases compared to that imposed across the range of motion (T) of thelid portion (30) when operating in proximity of the open configuration(U). Further yet, the expansively directed force is controlled, throughconfiguration of the pair of spring-biased struts (50), to have asubstantially zero magnitude when the lid portion (30) is in the closedconfiguration. This feature avoids fatigue being induced at thestrut-engaging portions of the lid portion (30) and bottom portion (32)of the cargo box (10).

1. A dual sided opening roof mount cargo box for a carrying vehiclecomprising: a lid portion releasably hinge-connected at two lateralsides to a bottom portion of the cargo box for alternate pivotation ateach of the two lateral sides between open and closed configurations,the bottom portion being adapted to be mounted to the carrying vehicle;a spring-biased strut operatively interposed between the lid portion andthe bottom portion of the cargo box, the spring-biased strut beinglocated at an end region of the cargo box; and the spring-biased strutcomprising two arms operatively interconnected for pivotation relativeto one another through a delimited range of motion, the two arms havinga biasing spring operatively interposed therebetween, the biasing springconfigured to operatively influence the two arms during transitionbetween first and second strut orientations that respectively correspondto closed and open configurations of the cargo box, wherein thespring-biased strut is configured to control an assisting force thaturges the cargo box into the open configuration to have a magnitude thatsubstantially balances a weight of the lid portion thereby facilitatingan operator's even lifting of the lid portion across the delimited rangeof motion of the two arms, wherein the spring-biased strut is configuredto control the assisting force to have a substantially zero magnitudewhen the lid portion is in the closed configuration.
 2. The dual sidedopening roof mount cargo box as recited in claim 1, wherein thespring-biased strut is configured to control the assisting force thaturges the cargo box into the open configuration to have a magnitude thatsubstantially balances the weight of the lid portion when operating inproximity of the closed configuration of the cargo box.
 3. The dualsided opening roof mount cargo box as recited in claim 1, wherein thespring-biased strut is configured to control the assisting force to havea magnitude that increases compared to that imposed across the range ofmotion of the lid portion when operating in proximity of the openconfiguration.
 4. The dual sided opening roof mount cargo box as recitedin claim 1, wherein the lid portion is made from a semi-flexiblematerial.
 5. The dual sided opening roof mount cargo box as recited inclaim 1, further comprising a second spring-biased strut located at anopposite end region of the cargo box.
 6. A method for operating a dualsided opening roof mount cargo box for a carrying vehicle, the methodcomprising: providing a dual sided opening roof mount cargo box having alid portion releasably hinge-connected at two lateral sides to a bottomportion of the cargo box for alternate pivotation at each of the twolateral sides between open and closed configurations, the bottom portionbeing adapted to be mounted to a carrying vehicle; utilizing aspring-biased strut operatively interposed between the lid portion andthe bottom portion of the cargo box, the spring-biased strut beinglocated at an end region of the cargo box; controlling an assistingforce via the spring-biased strut to have a magnitude that substantiallybalances a weight of the lid portion thereby facilitating an operator'seven lifting of the lid portion across a delimited range of motion ofthe spring-biased strut; and controlling the assisting force via thespring-biased strut to have a substantially zero magnitude when the lidportion is in the closed configuration.
 7. The method as recited inclaim 6, further comprising controlling the assisting force via thespring-biased strut to have a magnitude that substantially balances theweight of the lid portion when operating in proximity of the closedconfiguration of the cargo box.
 8. The method as recited in claim 6,further comprising controlling the assisting force via the spring-biasedstrut to have a magnitude that increases compared to that imposed acrossthe range of motion of the lid portion when operating in proximity ofthe open configuration.
 9. The method as recited in claim 6, wherein thelid portion is made from a semi-flexible material.
 10. The method asrecited in claim 6, wherein a second spring-biased strut is located atan opposite end region of the cargo box.
 11. A roof mounted cargo box,comprising: a lid portion releasably hinge-connected to a bottom portionof the cargo box for pivotation between open and closed configurations,wherein the bottom portion is adapted to be mounted to a carryingvehicle; and a spring-biased strut operatively interposed between thelid portion and the bottom portion of the cargo box, wherein thespring-biased strut is located at an end region of the cargo box,wherein the spring-biased strut comprises two arms operativelyinterconnected, wherein the spring-biased strut is configured totransition between closed and open configurations of the cargo box,wherein the spring-biased strut is configured to control an assistingforce that urges the cargo box into the open configuration to have amagnitude that substantially balances a weight of the lid portion acrossa delimited range of motion of the two arms, and wherein thespring-biased strut is configured to control the assisting force to havea substantially zero magnitude when the lid portion is in the closedconfiguration.
 12. The roof mounted cargo box as recited in claim 11,wherein the spring-biased strut is configured to control the assistingforce to have a magnitude that substantially balances the weight of thelid portion when operating in proximity of the closed configuration ofthe cargo box.
 13. The roof mounted cargo box as recited in claim 11,wherein the spring-biased strut is configured to control the assistingforce to have a magnitude that increases compared to that imposed acrossthe range of motion of the lid portion when operating in proximity ofthe open configuration.
 14. The roof mounted cargo box as recited inclaim 11, wherein the lid portion is made from a semi-flexible material.15. The roof mounted cargo box as recited in claim 11, furthercomprising a second spring-biased strut located at an opposite endregion of the cargo box.